Wherever you are (Michael Clifford)

Time

3 weeks have passed and I haven't spoke to Michael at all.

He hasn't been in school, and I can't call or text him because I'm simply to scared.

Of course, I'm incredibly worried about him but i can't do anything.

My mum and dad have been back for a week now and they are already fed up with my depressing presence.

I'v just sat in my room in the dark.

I don't want to listen to music.

I don't want to watch tv.

I don't want to eat.

I don't want to sleep.

I just want to sit here, in the dark.

I hate the dark, I always have. Sitting here, making myself stare into the deep depths of it is like torture and it feels good.

At school, I go to learn, and then I come home.

I'm pretty sure my friends are getting sick of me because I don't laugh along with them or whatever but I just feel incapable of it.

Thankfully my mum and dad had no idea it was Michael that was causing me all this pain, because they didn't even know he existed.

I have never talked about him, and he was gone without a trace of him here.

I'm not sure how my mum would feel about it but I'm pretty sure my dad would be mad If he knew I was alone every day with him, plus Michael gives off the immediate bad boy look.

Today at school Jake made several attempts to talk to me but I pretended he didn't exist, looking anywhere but him, trying my hardest to sing a song in my head so that his voice would just disappear.

Even if Jake didn't cheat on me he still wanted to hurt me with that fucking picture, so well done to him, it worked.

So now I'm just lying in bed, doing what I do best. I'm starting to get used to this certain spot to stare at in the dark.

A knock sounds at my door and as soon as I start to see it open and the light start to shine into my room I wince and pull the covers over my head.

"You can hide from me all you want but I'm not going away, I want to see this damn picture that Jake told me about and I want my Best friend back."

Erica shuts the door and I'm grateful when she comes to sit next to me without turning any of the lights on.

"It's in my texts from Jake." I mumble.

I feel her take my phone.

"He cheated on me Erica." She gasps so I guess she had found the picture.

"So this picture is dated the night of the party."

"Yep, that's what it states." I groan in to my pillow.

"I'm fucking mad at that boy, you know I'm going to beat his ass when he has the decency to return to school." She tries to comfort me.

"Don't bother it will just make things worse," I pull the cover off of my head and take my phone from Erica.

I promised myself that I would never look at the picture again but here I am, staring at it intently, torturing myself.

Some familiarity comes to my mind but I can't place it.

I stare at the date and the time again, and it doesn't take long for the tears to spill from my eyes again.

Date- 25/1/14

Time- 3:30 Am

And then there is tiny little letters at the bottom which I can't make out.

Studying the picture so hard makes it seem really weird.

"WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT"

"HANNAH WHAT YOU ARE SCARING ME." Erica shouts at me.

I quickly go on to Facebook and try and find that girl I saw who changed her profile picture to her and her boyfriend, and it's the exact same girl in the picture I have been sent, and the way her face is is the exact same in the picture I have been sent. The boy in the picture isn't Michael.

"I KNEW I HAD SEEN HER BEFORE."

Erica lets out a frustrated groan, I should probably tell her soon.

"AND WAIT."

I then go I to the picture of Michael and the girl. The time is 3:30 am, and I remember precisely me and Michael being in bed at that time.

And then I zoom in as far as I can Into the picture.

The little tiny letters make out 'photo editor.'

I whisper the words photo editor to myself a few times until I can finally function.

"ERICA THIS PHOTO IS EDITED THIS ISNT REAL."

How could I be so fucking stupid. The photo hurt to much to look at so I didn't examine it that well but if I did I wouldn't have had to go 3 fucking weeks without one of the best people in my life.

Her eyes widen and she begins to question me, but I ignore her, immediately dialling Michael's number.

I begin to think he isn't going to answer because the amount of times it's rang.

The phone goes quiet.

"Hannah..."

His voice is quiet but it fills my ears, I miss him so much that it physically hurts.

"Michael are you at home?"

"Yeah Hannah why? Are you okay, where are you?"

His voice starts to sound panicked.

"I'm coming." I hang up.

I quickly put my converse on and run, without saying goodbye to Erica or my parents, but I don't care, I just need my boyfriend Michael Clifford.